


An Undying Flame

by ZisNotaBird



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Modern Era, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZisNotaBird/pseuds/ZisNotaBird
Summary: The Fire Nation has won. 150 years have passed since Sozin's initial strike and the Phoenix Empire controls nearly the entire world. The Avatar cycle is broken. Benders are becoming less and less common. Can the newest Avatar bring balance to a world in barely controlled chaos?
Relationships: Katara (Avatar)/Original Character(s), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Song/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

150 years ago, the world’s peoples lived divided into 4 separate countries. The Air Nation, the Water Nation, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Nation. The Earth Nation was large and with many varying ecosystems was rich, but it’s wealth was hoarded in small kingdoms and many people lived in poverty. The Water Nation was small and divided, it’s people living vastly different lives depending on if one lived in the North or the South pole. The Air Nation lived in four small locations, but as a nomadic people they could be found in every city on the globe. Finally, the Fire Nation, a small but prosperous island nation. The nations lived in a tense, fragile peace. Then one day, the Fire Nation decided to change that.

_~Page 73, “A Brief History of the Phoenix Empire” by Kenta Ishiura_

  
  


As the school bell rang, Tsomo was careful not to appear too eager to leave. It was difficult, as she was more than ready to return to her dorm room, rid herself of her uniform and leave the academy grounds to see her family. She was lucky, her family lived within the city where the campus was situated. She still lived in her dorm, but she was able to visit them regularly enough. Some students came from the Islands, or further inland towards the city-state of Ba Sing Se. There were even a few who came from the Southern Tundras. She couldn’t imagine being unable to escape for an entire semester.

Tsomo carefully packed her things into her messenger bag, while others chattered and shuffled around her. She took a moment to write down her homework for the night, thankfully light as it was the third day of the fall semester, before standing to leave.

“Miss Yang, a word?”

Tsomo cringed and hoped desperately it didn’t show on her face. Maybe she should have moved more quickly.

“Of course, ma’am.”

Mrs. Cheong sat at her desk with a sigh and began organizing the worksheets they had completed. Tsomo handed hers in with a respectful bow. Mrs. Cheong was also her dorm advisor. She was a kind enough woman, if somewhat strict in the classroom. Most teachers had to be, teaching the children of the rich and elite. She didn’t envy any of them.

“I was given word late in the day, we have a new arrival in the dorm so you will end up with a roommate after all.” Outwardly, Tsomo simply nodded, face as flat as she could manage. Inwardly, she screamed and cursed her luck. “I know, it’s not ideal, but I did manage to get a brief conversation with her and her mother. They seem lovely though a bit… different. I highly doubt this will be a repeat of your first year.”

Tsomo nodded, feeling sick at even the vaguest mention of her. “I trust your judgement, ma’am. Thank you for the notice.” She bowed again, wished her goodbye, then hurried off.

  
  


The Royal Empire Academy was in Caldera City and sat slightly inland of Yue Bay, closer to the nearby forests but not so far that traveling to the beach wasn’t a pastime of nearly all students. It had its own section of blocks referred to as Academy Plaza. Caldera University sat at one end, closer to the general city, while Royal Empire Academy sat on the other, with some shops and restaurants purposefully separating the two. Tsomo darted around pedestrians, still in her uniform, grateful that she brought her gym bag to class with her. She hadn’t intended to go back to her dorm except to change, so she was going to be early, but she’d rather be early and change in a cramped bathroom than meet her new roommate and change in her dorm.

  
  


The mile walk from the campus to the gym was usually a slow and meandering towards the main city, but once she started running out of the school, she decided it would be a good warm up. She arrived at the hole in the wall martial arts gym panting and sliding her bag off. She paused outside of the door to catch her breath when something grabbed her from behind. An arm wrapped around her neck and pulled her backwards. She stumbled back, hands instinctively flying to grip the arm.

She laughed.

“How did you get here so fast?”

Daizo put a little more pressure behind the choke. “You’re not allowed to beat me to the gym. I’m first or I’m not there.”

“How could I be so foolish?” She replied with a raspy voice, tapping his well muscled arm. He let her go and darted through the front door as she gathered her bag. He was already dressed in his white gi pants and a black tank top with slip on sandals. Last fall, Daizo had been lithe and a few inches shorter. Now, after a year of hard training, eating well, and a swift dose of puberty, he was ballooning up. Couple that with his swept back undercut, strong brows, marred only by a small scar on the left, and bright smile, he had girls in each year calling after him.

“Are you taking a weapons class?” Tsomo asked after changing in the gym’s tiny bathroom.

Daizo made a face. “No, I have one on one training with Coach Feng.”

“Have you sent in your audition tape yet?” Daizo didn’t respond, but he did flush a little. “Daizo! The deadline is in a week you fool! Just press send already!”

“I will, I will!” He shot back. “It’s just nerve wracking. Like, maybe I should have done a flashier firebending segment? Or should I have sent more tournament footage? Or-”

“Daizo!” The two of them turned to see Coach Feng standing by the door to the basement level, arms crossed.

“You’re in trouble,” Tsomo sang as Daizo frantically gathered up his things.

“Eat my entire butt.” He whisper shouted, then took off after their coach.

  
  


Three hours later, after classes on bo staff, boxing, then finally jiu jitsu, Tsomo left blissfully sweaty and relaxed. Daizo stayed behind for a bending class. As a non-bender, she liked to stay behind sometimes and watch, but she did have homework and, loathe as she was to do it, she did need to meet her new roommate. The night had fallen quite quickly and the autumn air was almost too cold to be out in the tee shirt and shorts she was wearing. But it felt good and she’d already packed her gi and uniform jacket away, so she walked on. Dinner was still going, she’d stop at the dining hall first- or should she change and then get dinner? Her clothes were pretty gross, but she knew if she went back to her dorm she’d feel too awkward to leave. Maybe she could change back into her uniform in the bathroom before going inside? She’d look a bit like a nerd, still being in her uniform in the evening, but she could say she had tutoring or had been in the library.

Tsomo was lost in thought and as such was caught completely unguarded when an arm suddenly wrapped itself around her neck. She didn’t fight back, not seriously, until he started to drag her away.

“H-hey Daizo, what-“

He squeezed tightly, cutting her off. For a split second, she was confused as to why Daizo would be so rough on her, then her blood ran cold. Daizo was currently training with his firebending coach.

She tried to scream, but her air was cut off completely. Her head swam and she tried to kick at wear she thought her attackers legs were. She connected once, then swung even harder, feeling something crunch under her heel. A voice yelped, dropping her.

She fell, gasping and coughing harder than she ever had before.

“Agh, my knee!” A shadow fell over her, then a hard impact landed on her stomach. White spots scattered over her vision. “Stupid brat, I don’t care who you are! You’ll pay for that.”

Through cloudy vision, she looked up to see the figure of a man rearing back. She threw her hand up to cover her face, crying out.

Silence.

Wind tousled her hair. She dared to peek out to find the man frozen in place. Literally. He was covered in ice from head to toe, the source of which was water from the sewer beneath the grate he’d happened to stand on.

“What did you do to Kwan?!”

She rolled over. Another man dropped her bags. He started to run but from nowhere water shot out and froze around his body. He fell to the ground in a heap. Waterbending, she realized. She’d never met a waterbender before, most had moved back to the tundras after reconstruction, though she knew that a minority did live throughout the mainland.

“Are you alright?”

A cool, low voice came from behind her, in the direction of the gym. Someone stood there, in a black hoodie and trousers, with sturdy leather boots. What caught her eye though, was the mask he wore. It was in the shape of an otterine skull, pure white save for a single splash of brilliant blue across it.

“Oh, uh, I’m-” she winced. She’d cracked a rib once before and this felt strikingly similar. “Mostly alright. You saved me.”

The man cocked his head to the side and pointed to the only partially frozen man. “I only detained this one. You saved yourself.” The man approached her as she struggled to a seated position. He knelt beside her and took her gently by the chin. She felt her face grow hot.

“You, how old are you?”

“Uh, well, I’m actually sixteen tomorrow.” She chuckled, then inhaled sharply. Right. Ribs.

“You’re not a waterbender, are you?” She shook her head as he released her chin.

“Ah, no, sadly not. I’m not a bender at all.” He made a noise that could almost have been a laugh, putting a hand on his mask. He pulled his hood down and then his mask. He was clearly from the tundra colonies, with warm brown skin and striking blue eyes. His long hair spilled out in dark locs from under his hood. He was younger than she expected, probably not much older than herself.

He offered his hand. “I’m Kodayaq.”

She took his hand and bowed her head briefly. “Tsomo Yang. Thank you for your help.”

He helped her to her feet. “I’d like to offer more than that. I live not too far from here and my mother is a healer.”

She shouldn’t trust a stranger, she thought, but he had just saved her, hadn’t he? And he was offering to make it so she only had to miss a day or two of martial arts rather than a few weeks, plus at least a week of classes. She nodded. “You’re too kind. Thank you.”

He waved her off as he started walking. “It’s nothing. My mother will be happy to help.”

Kodayaq lead her back towards the main road of Academy Plaza, then down towards the more wooded area where Caldera University was. They walked in silence. Tsomo had a dozen questions she wanted to ask. Why was he going around in all black wearing an admittedly cool mask? What had he meant by “you saved yourself?” Why did he care about her age? They all rose in her throat and died on her lips. Maybe he fancied himself a hero, that’s all. It would be rude to question him over something as noble as saving her life.

They passed the university and came to a lonely stretch of road. Then, they came upon a winding driveway and he stopped.

“We’re here.” He gestured up the long path to what looked like a huge house, a mansion really. It looked to be three stories tall, white, and sat back from road much farther than any of the nearby houses. She was nearly about to ask why a rich kid like him would bother playing superhero, until she spied a sign out front. As they approached, she could see that it read “White Lotus Inn”.

“You live here?” She asked, pausing at the front steps. He continued on, opening the door and letting the light spill out over her.

“My mother is uh, a co-owner. She offers waterbending therapies to patrons.”

“Wow,” was all Tsomo could manage as she stepped inside. It was warm, with light wooden floors and walls decorated with photos of all kinds of people and places. A man sat behind the desk, eyes glued to his computer, hardly registering them, except to briefly greet Kodayaq. The lobby seemed to also have a sitting area of sorts. A group of people were sharing tea and laughing over a story one was telling. Kodayaq shut the door with a loud thud, then all eyes were on them.

She smiled and gave a small wave and tried to will herself not to blush.

“They’re good people,” Kodayaq said. “Go have some tea, I’ll be right back.”

“Right,” she replied. Tea with strangers. She could do this. Head high, shoulders back, fake confidence. Three women and a man sat on couches around a coffee table. A jade teapot sat in the center, with several cups around it. An older woman in a mint green hanbok gestured to the free chair between the couches, which she gratefully took. The woman to Tsomo’s right, a woman with long brown hair in a loose bun and bright grey-blue eyes, offered her a cup of tea.

“Thank you,” Tsomo said with a polite nod. Their hands touched as the woman gave her the cup, and her eyes widened briefly, but she quickly smiled, then excused herself. Odd. The young man watched after her quizzically, but said nothing.

“Don’t mind Iio,” the other younger woman said. Her features were similar to Kodayaq’s, but she had short hair with a single braid framing the left side of her face and falling on to her shoulder. “She’s an odd turtleduck, but the nicest person you’ll ever meet. I’m Unaya.” She gestured to the older woman, then the man. “This is Song and Zhen.”

“Good to meet you,” Tsomo said.

“We were just discussing the Avatar.” Song said after taking a sip.

Tsomo nodded as she sipped from her own cup. The Avatar, the only person in the world who could control all the elements, had died about sixteen years ago. Eleven years ago, the royal family announced the newest avatar had been identified but would remain private until their sixteenth birthday, as was tradition. Now, it was the talk of the town, the whole empire really. The avatar could make their debut any day this year. Her own class was particularly abuzz, as they had all been born in the same year as previous Avatar Kazuo’s passing.

“It’s nearly time, any day now,” Zhen said, looking particularly determined for some reason.

“Any day is now,” Iio said. The four of them turned to see her coming down the hall with Kodayaq and two strangers. One was likely Kodayaq’s mother. Despite having much lighter skin, their shared features were unmistakable. The other was an older man, about Song’s age, with a large burn scar beginning at his left eye and expanding outward. She couldn’t imagine what kind of accident had caused that.

“She’s the one?” Zhen asked. He regarded Tsomo with wide golden eyes.

“She froze a man completely in place,” Kodayaq said.

“And she’s no waterbender- she’s an airbender! I felt it!” Iio declared, jumping for joy. The room seemed to explode into overlapping shouts. Tsomo felt like her heart would stop. Airbender? Avatar?

“What?!” Tsomo stood up suddenly, dropping her cup. It shattered, silencing the lot of them. “No, no, you’ve got the wrong person, I’m not a bender at all! Neither of my parents are or their parents or my siblings-”

“Let’s all just calm down,” Kodayaq’s mother approached, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s take a second to breathe and not jump to conclusions.”

Tsomo nodded fervently. She liked this woman at once.

“Koda said you had some injuries?” The woman gently pushed her back down to her seat. “Oh those marks, your neck must hurt.” Tsomo heard a quiet splish, the felt chills as the woman’s water covered hands touched her neck. The chill quickly turned to a soothing warmth that ate away at the ache. She felt the woman’s hands move upwards, coming to a rest at her temple.

“Oh dear, something is-”

Tsomo didn’t hear the rest.

She felt like she was caught in a tornado. Her heart beat so fast she could only feel an ache in her chest. There was a flash of light. Voices and faces swirled around her, hundreds of them, all calling out to her at once.

“Avatar Tsomo. The world needs you.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

_I was freshly sixteen when the Fire Sage and King Azulon came to me. To learn I was the Avatar was the greatest honor and greatest shock of my life. In no time at all, I found myself at the center of the world, called upon by nobles and peasants alike to bring peace and balance to our brave new world._

~ Foreword, “The Life of Avatar Kazuo” by Mizaki Kaneda

Tsomo stood face to face, or rather, faces, with hundreds of people. They stood silently, eyes glowing bright white. Slowly they began to fade, until she stood up against only one. A boy, no older than 13, stood there. He wore traditional Air Nation robes and had the tell tale tattoos of an airbender. They watched each other for what felt like ages. Finally, Tsomo thought to speak.

“Who are you?”

The boy simply regarded her with glowing eyes, then reached out a hand. His lips formed her name, but the voice that spoke it was not his.

“Tsomo!”

She jolted, sitting upright suddenly and clutching her chest. She was on the couch now, with everyone around her actively backing up to give her space. Koda’s mother sat on the coffee table beside her. Iio stood behind the couch to her left. It was her voice she’d heard.

Tsomo felt tears drip down her cheeks. “What was that? What’s h-happening to me?” She asked, trying to stifle a sob.

“What did you see?” Koda’s mother asked calmly.

“People,” she replied. “Just, a lot of people.”

“Wow,” Iio said. “Those were the past Avatars. Your past lives.”

“My… past lives?”

Iio nodded. “When an Avatar passes on, their spirit is reborn into a newborn in the order of the cycle: water, earth, fire, and air. Although,” she shook her head. “Something has been screwy with the cycle. It’s been skipping around.”

“It must be, if a non-bender like me can be the Avatar.”

“You must not have been,” the man with the scar said. “You must have some Air Nomad blood in you.”

“Or Water Tribe,” Song said. “You did waterbend, and the cycle has been thrown out of order, as far as we can tell.”

“I thought the Avatar could just be any bender born when the Avatar dies, that the power could only be held by one person at any given time.” Tsomo said. “Nobody’s ever said anything about a cycle or past lives.”

The man with the scar scoffed. “Ozai and Azula’s doing.” Tsomo gaped. She’d never heard anyone refer to the late king and current queen without their titles. “Through no fault of your own, you have a lot to learn.”

“Unlearn, more like.” Zhen said. The scarred man nodded in agreement.

“They’ll know about her awakening.” Koda’s mother said. “You should be on your way. Koda will see you home.”

Koda looked bewildered at his mother, who shot him a sharp look.

“Yes, I’ll escort you.” He said simply. Koda, his mother and the scarred man walked her to the door while the rest bid her good night.

“You’ll likely be contacted tomorrow by Azula’s advisors. They don’t mean you any harm, at least, not yet. Just play dumb and do whatever she says and you’ll be fine.”

Tsomo was so completely lost that she could only nod. Why would the Queen want to hurt the new Avatar? She and her father had worked closely with Avatar Kazuo. Nothing made sense.

“Just who are you people? How do you know all this?”

“We want to help you.” Koda’s mother said. “We want to help everyone. That’s all.”

“Will you come back tomorrow?” The scarred man asked. She hesitated, but ultimately agreed to. They hadn’t shown her any harm, nor given her any reason to mistrust them. Push came to shove, she could always tell the Queen about them.

“Good night… uh….”

“Oh! How rude of us!” Koda’s mother exclaimed with a laugh. “This is Lee. My name is Katara, it’s been lovely to meet you, Tsomo.”

Tsomo bowed. “You as well, thank you very much for your help.”

With that, she and Koda left the White Lotus Inn. They were silent the whole walk back, which was admittedly a little long. She must not have noticed it because of the adrenaline from before. As she walked, listening to the distant sounds of the city, it began to dawn on her. She was the Avatar, She had bended. Really bended water. And she was an airbender? Did her parents know anything about this? They must, maybe they did have some Air Nation blood a few generations back. Regardless, she was the Avatar. Someone had to be. And now she was going to learn to bend _all_ the elements. Just the day before she’d have given up a whole lot just to be able to bend one. The thought excited her, but it was tamped down with the increasing exhaustion. She hadn’t felt this tired since her first jiu jitsu tournament.

Koda brought her to the front of her dorm, quickly wished her good night, and walked away. Was everyone at the inn this odd?

At this time of night, Mrs. Cheong herself was at the desk to check her in. She wasn’t out beyond curfew luckily, so her teacher waved her on without a second glance. For that she was grateful. Tsomo’s legs felt like lead as she stepped into the elevator, dropping her bags. She almost always took the stairs, but almost dying and discovering you were the Avatar seemed like a good enough excuse to her.

The elevator dinged at the third floor of the four story dorm. She trudged down the hall before coming to her room, 310. As she rummaged through her school bag for her key, she remembered that a whole other person was inside. She hesitated a moment, but the desire to get to bed won out. She turned the key and opened the door to find the room dark. Whoever her roommate was was already asleep and well buried under their blankets. She sighed in relief then collapsed into her bed.

The next morning, Tsomo woke to the soft light of the sunrise illuminating the room. Tsomo peeled herself from her pillow, only to catch the eyes of her new roommate.

She was beautiful and she was stretching out in a warrior position, Tsomo could never keep track of which was which. She had long, silky black hair, with a straight nose and soft green eyes. She was a little shorter and more than a little curvier than Tsomo was. She wore only a sports bra and form fitting shorts.

“Do you practice?” The girl asked, transitioning to downward dog.

“Uh, sometimes,” which was true. She sometimes used yoga poses to warm up for practice.

“Wonderful,” the girl said with a smile. Tsomo was wary of her. The last pretty girl to live with her had nearly caused her to transfer schools. “I’m Nuying Han.”

“I’m Tsomo Yang. Sorry I wasn’t able to meet you yesterday, I got caught up with some things.” She could have come and met her before practice, but… yeah.

“No worries, no worries,” Nuying sat back into child’s pose. “I’m sure it was important. Do you always sleep in gym clothes? No judgment, athletic wear is so comfortable these days.”

Tsomo blushed and laughed awkwardly.

“Ah, no I don’t normally do that. I was just exhausted last night.” She hopped out of bed, careful to give Nuying her space. She gathered up a clean uniform and ducked behind her changing screen next to her dresser to change out of her stinking clothes. She initially went to change into a towel to go shower, but what if Nuying made fun of her? Told her she looked like a twelve year old boy?

She changed into a tee shirt and shorts, then grabbed a towel and her toiletries. She was gone about half an hour between showering and brushing her teeth and when she returned, a man she’d never met before was at her door with Ms. Cheong talking to Nuying. He was nearly as wide as he was tall, and he was _tall_. Tsomo had never seen someone so big.

Ms. Cheong noticed her and waved her over, beaming.

“Tsomo, this is Mr. Lin. He’s a member of the queensguard.” Tsomo had never seen Ms. Cheong so excited before. “Queen Azula would like to meet with you at the Royal Estate!”

That was fast, Tsomo thought. Just how did they know anyway?

“Do I have time to change?”

Tsomo sat in the Estate’s opulent parlor, playing with the sleeve of her uniform. It wasn’t the first time she’d been in the Estate, the royal family’s home on the mainland, but it was her first time in the living quarters part of the grounds. As the daughter of this region’s senator, she’d been in the meeting rooms many times as a child. Her mother hadn’t done it as a publicity stunt, her father worked as an engineer in an unsafe place, but the media loved watching a young Tsomo listen intently to meetings or scribbling along like she was just as much a member of parliament as her mother. She didn’t know anybody who’d been invited to the living part of the grounds.

But there she was. Mr. Lin stood near the door, gazing in her general direction, but not quite staring at her, which she appreciated. He wasn’t much for conversation, both on the way and while they waited, so she took in the room to try and still rapidfire heartbeat. The floors were some kind of dark wood, nearly black, and so shiny she could almost make out her reflection. The room was decorated in golds and reds and had a set of instruments in one corner. The furniture was plush and sturdy and probably hand made by master craftsmen. This was clearly a place to entertain elites.

Suddenly the door opened. Mr, Lin stepped back and allowed a familiar face to walk in. Ryozin, crown prince of the Phoenix Empire, seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Ryozin was in her year at the academy and should have been settling in for his first class. To see he was skipping wasn’t a surprise, her classmates would often sneer about how spoiled he must be and how he didn’t deserve his top ranking in their year. Tsomo was caught off guard by his attire. He was dressed in a traditional kimono. It was mostly white with red and black clouds on the sleeves and hem that, coupled with his mess of curly white hair and very light complexion, made him look like a ghost.

“You’re in my parlor.” Ryozin said. His voice was soft and almost dreamlike. She realized she’d never heard him speak before.

“I am,” she replied.

He regarded her for a moment. “So you’re the next Avatar.”

She flinched. How did he know? She considered trying to deny it, but he would likely know soon enough anyway.

“Y-yes. I suppose I am.”

“Huh, interesting,” was all he said before turning and leaving. Not a moment later, she bolted to her feet and bowed deeply as Queen Azula entered, flanked by a man in red robes and her other child, princess Reza.

“Thank you Mr. Lin, you may leave.” The man bowed his head and somehow managed to squeeze out the doorway as Queen Azula took a seat in a nearby armchair. Reza took a seat by the queen’s side, on the loveseat opposite Tsomo. The man in red robes stayed standing.

“Please, take a seat,” Queen Azula said. Tsomo blushed, realizing she was still bowing. She sat down, still keeping her gaze away lowered. Just being in the same room as her felt like being in the same room as a tigerdillo. The Queen had a reputation of being quick to anger, though Tsomo had never seen her lose her temper. She’d seen her speak with passion, even righteous fury, but never anything like the rumors.

“You’re Tsomo Yang,” the queen said cooly, more a statement than a question.

“Y-yes, your highness,” Tsomo stammered.

“Oh please do calm down,” she replied with a short laugh. “You’re not in any trouble.”

“Right,” the simple statement gave her enough courage to look up and take in the royal mother and daughter.

They were stunning, the pair of them. Both dressed smartly, Reza in a long cardigan and pencil skirt and Queen Azula in a sharp black pantsuit and deep red blouse. Their golden eyes burned into her, though their expressions were soft. She swallowed, feeling very out of place with her dull brown curls hastily pulled into a bun and plain grey eyes.

Queen Azula gestured to the man in red. “This is Shaoru. He’s an adviser and a sage.” Tsomo bowed to the older man, which he returned. “I figured introductions would be necessary, considering you hadn’t seen one another in, oh, twelve years?”

“What?”

“Twelve years ago,” Shaoru started. His voice was gruff, not at all matching his traditional and regal appearance. “I was sent to investigate potential Avatars, those who were born on the day of Avatar Kazuo’s passing. You were among them, and you were identified that day.”

Tsomo’s heart fell to her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came. Had her parent’s known? They must have.

“Last night, the statues of Avatars past, they reacted.” Shaoru said. “This only happens when the Avatar has entered the Avatar state for the very first time.”

“Did something happen last night?” Reza asked softly. She sounded much like her mother, but with no edge. A feather pen to her mother’s dagger.

“I… was attacked. Two men tried to mug me or… something of that nature.”

“How terrifying,” Reza said.

“Yes well, you are the Avatar.” Queen Azula said flippantly. “ The Avatar state is a built in self defense mechanism. I imagine they didn’t walk away unscathed?”

“No, your highness.” The queen grinned at that.

“What did you do?”

“I burned them.”

Tsomo didn’t know why she lied, the words just came at once. Did she want to impress the queen by using fire rather than water? Or was she trying to keep Koda out of Queen Azula’s sights? Regardless, the queen’s fox grin grew.

“Excellent, excellent. Now, there’s the matter of making your debut, so to speak.”

“Oh…” The presenting of the Avatar was always a big event, at least, as far as she was aware. Festivals, interviews, people coming from all over the world. Just to see her. The thought was exciting and terrifying all at once. How would her classmates react? All the ones who’d ignored her or worse over the years. She couldn’t help but smile at that.

“What did you have in mind?” Tsomo asked.

“Well,” Reza started. “I was thinking a ball might be fun. Sell tickets for the opportunity to meet you. We could even donate the proceedings to charity?” The last she directed at her mother who gave a so-so motion with her hand.

“I’ve never been one for parties, but they are great PR. Reza, you’re in charge of that.”

Reza lit up. “Oh, thank you mother! I’ll get started right away! May I?” Queen Azula give a flick of her hand and Reza was off like a shot. When she was out of earshot, the queen chuckled.

“She seems excited,” Tsomo said.

“Very.” The queen replied dryly. “Fashion and parties and all those simple things are her favorite. I don’t approve, but it does have its moments.” The queen sat up a little straighter and looked Tsomo dead in the eye.

Tsomo struggled not to shiver.

“Let’s get to the real debut now. I’ve been thinking, ever since the MMAC started gaining popularity, how amazing it would be to have an Avatar compete. Would that interest you?”

Tsomo could have died right then and there. Would it interest her? _Would it interest her?_ It was a dream come true. The Mixed Martial Arts Championship was _the_ promotion for pro fighters, benders and non-benders alike flocked to them for the chance to fight under their name. Tsomo wanted it more than anything, but she had been biding her time. Training and watching, she hadn’t planned on trying out until she was older.

“Yes, absolutely,” she said so quickly the two words morphed into one. She cleared her throat. “I-I’ve always wanted to but I wasn’t ready, not like my friend Daizo- he’s already submitted his audition tape.”

“Superb.” Queen Azula said. She stood up and crossed over to Tsomo, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to make an excellent Avatar.”

Before Tsomo could react to being praised by _the freaking queen_ , the door burst open and a woman hurried inside.

“Ms. Zhang, what is the meaning of-”

“My sincerest apologies, your highness.” The woman spoke swiftly but seriously. She grabbed a nearby remote, aiming at what Tsomo thought had been a blank wall over a fireplace, but turned out to be a hidden television. The woman quickly flipped to the news.

Tsomo’s breath caught in her chest.

There, in his otterine mask, was Koda, fighting against a line of police officers.


	3. Chapter 3

_A group of college students are now facing jail time for breaking and entering as well as disturbing the peace at Caldera University last week. More than a dozen students were arrested, three were injured, one of which is in critical condition for burns sustained while resisting arrest. Protests have sparked throughout the city, causing unrest and more injuries to both law enforcement and protesters._

~Article titled “Civil Unrest at CU” by Vannor J. at The Daily Flow

Tsomo sat, silent and transfixed as she watched Koda block bursts of flame with his waterbending. Behind him, a small crowd of protesters were shouting and cheering him on. She couldn’t understand, why was this happening? Why was Koda fighting the police? And why was he wearing a mask? Wearing a mask while protesting or speaking publicly was illegal, was he trying to get arrested?

The queen made a noise of disapproval.

“Him again.”

“Do you know him?” Tsomo asked.

“Not his identity, no,” the queen said, furrowing her brows. “But he’s part of a recent group that’s popped up. Calling themselves ‘The Spirits’, like something out of a child’s fairy tale. They’re nothing but troublemakers looking for attention.”

“There’s a handful of them,” Ms. Zhang said. Tsomo had nearly forgotten about her. “We can never seem to catch them. They’re clever, and strong benders to boot.”

“They’re worms.” Queen Azula said sternly. “And they will be crushed.” The queen leveled Tsomo with a sharp glance. “They are public enemy number one. You and I will take them out, and anyone else who threatens the peace of our empire.”

Tsomo’s blood ran cold, though she didn’t know why. She could only nod in response.

Not an hour later, she found herself walking back to the White Lotus Inn. She and the queen had moved on from the news and onto her training as the Avatar. Queen Azula was going to bring in masters of bending from around the world to help her train and prepare for her debut.

“We want the world to see you as someone powerful, someone to be admired. We’ll show them your strength, then show them you as a person at the ball.”

She wanted to be excited, but all she could think about was Koda and the others. She had to get to the bottom of this. The moment she’d been excused by the queen, she made for her dorm and changed out of her uniform and into gym shorts and a hoodie, trying to look like a boy. It was unfortunately easy.

Maybe Koda was a criminal, but maybe this was all a misunderstanding, or maybe she could convince them to stop. Either way, she didn’t want to be seen going to the Inn as herself.

She hesitated at the door. Should she knock? It was an inn after all. She opened the door. The warm smells of baking washed over her and urged her inside, where she let down her hood. To her surprise, Song sat behind the front desk. The older woman smiled at her.

“Tsomo! How good to see you again! Though I didn’t expect you during this time of day.”

“Ah, yes, I was excused from classes.” Not a lie, Ms. Cheong had relayed that she was excused from classes today. Finding out you’re the Avatar seemed as good a reason as any.

“Oh, perfect,” Song rose up from her seat. “Here, come with me. Zu- Zhen and Lee wanted to speak with you.”

“Is Koda here?”

“He’s out right now,” Song replied smoothly. “Along with Unaya and Iio.”

Oh great, were they Spirits too? Or did they happen to be out at the same time as Koda?

Song lead her down a hall on the left, down to a little library/lounge. Zhen and Lee were at a table with Katara, waiting for her. Tsomo took the last seat at the little round table without a word as Song left.

“So,” Lee started. “I’m assuming you’ve met with Azula by now.”

It still felt so unnerving to hear him call the queen simply by her name. “I have, yes.”

“And how did that go?”

Tsomo hesitated, but relayed the events of her meeting with the queen, including the interruption at the end. Zhen and Lee listened along intently, faces blank.

“Alright. Do you know when either of these events are going on?”

“No, it’s still in the works. The princess is coordinating the ball and the exhibition match will be the day before.”

“Excellent.” Zhen said.

“Why do you guys care about all of this?” Tsomo asked.

Zhen and Lee looked at each other a long time, before Lee nodded.

“How good are you at history?” Lee asked.

“It’s… not my best or worst? Why does this matter?”

“You remember then, how the Phoenix Empire came to be?”

Tsomo laughed. “Yeah, they only teach it every year. The world was falling apart, and the Fire Nation stepped up to help unite the world under one whole.”

“That’s certainly the story they came up with,” Zhen said with a sniff. Lee gave him a look, to which he offered a soft apology.

“It’s not her fault.” Lee said to Zhen, then returned her attention to Tsomo. “It’s a half truth. The real truth is that the world wasn’t falling apart until the Fire Nation made it. You remember what happened to the Air Nomads?” Tsomo nodded, though she was puzzled by his archaic terminology. They’d almost been wiped out by disease before the Fire Nation stepped in to offer aid. “Well, the Fire Nation may have offered aid, but they were also the ones who introduced the disease to the Air Nomads in the first place.”

Tsomo felt a twist in her stomach, but shook her head. “They… but why would they do that? What’s to gain?”

“The Avatar,” Lee replied. “At the time, he was going to be reborn as an Air Nomad, following the death of Avatar Roku, a firebender.”

“Water, earth, fire, air,” Zhen said. “That’s the order, and has been as far as anyone could remember.”

“Right,” Lee said. “Tensions had been rising with the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation had already annexed parts of the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads were openly against this.”

Tsomo was silent, her mind reeling. A lesson she had learned about the ancient wars of the Fire Island came to her. History is written by the victors.

“Do you… I’m sorry, this is a lot.” Tsomo ran her hands over her face and into her bangs. “Do you have proof?”

Lee sighed, leaning forward onto the table. Song arrived, carrying a tray of freshly made lemon cookies and tea. “Song, would you mind grabbing the journals?” The way he said journals seemed to carry weight. Song’s mood quickly changed from upbeat to solemn in an instant. She nodded as she set the tray down between the three of them.

“Of course love,” she said, gently stroking his hair before he left.

“I didn’t know you two were married,” Tsomo said after a brief silence.

“30 years now,” Lee said with a small smile. He jerked a thumb at Zhen. We had him almost 19 years ago, and we adopted a daughter almost ten years ago.”

“That’s great.” Tsomo said. And it was. It was nice to hear something simple and wholesome after the past… man, it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet. The realization exhausted her. She took a cookie from the tray and served tea for the men, then herself. A few minutes passed in awkward silence before Song returned with a stack of journals. She set them on the table and quickly left.

“These journals,” Lee carefully put a hand on the stack. “They belonged to General Iroh.”

Tsomo’s jaw dropped. “ _The_ General Iroh? Who nearly conquered Ba Sing Se?”

“Yes,” Lee replied, eyes misty. “He left them to me. He started all of this- the Spirits, the inn, everything, because he knew what the Fire Nation was doing was wrong. He found evidence of the introduction of disease to the air nomads, among other things.”

“Whoa...” Was all Tsomo could manage.

“We have some of the original scrolls.” Zhen said. “Safely locked away of course, but we wanted to give you these. Iroh wrote multiple copies of the contents, along with his own personal accounts of being in the palace.”

“You can read these and decide for yourself if you’d like to work with us.” Lee said. He picked up the journals and held them out to her.

Tsomo nodded, taking the books.

They felt heavy in her arms, all the way back to her dorm.

Tsomo sat on her bed, staring at the closed journals. She was afraid to open them, let alone read them. She’d promised Lee she’d read them as soon as possible and be back to see them after the weekend. It was Friday, just a few hours after she’d left them. She’d procrastinated, doing her homework for the weekend, studying for an upcoming quiz, even cleaning her half of the room and finishing unpacking from the move in on Monday. Now she sat.

The door opened, making her jump. She tossed a throw blanket over the books, except nobody entered. Curious, she got out of her bed, walked to the door and leaned her head out the door frame. In the distance, she just caught a glimpse of a small child rounding the corner, giggling. Somebody’s younger sibling? Classes were about to let out, maybe someone’s family was visiting or picking them up for the weekend.

Just then she remembered she was going to visit her family tonight for her birthday. In all the confusion, she’d forgotten her own birthday. She was 16 now, apparently old enough to know she was the Avatar. Though, technically, she’d learned the night before. Regardless, it was another way to procrastinate reading the journals. Gingerly, she picked them up and tucked them into her wardrobe, under her clean gi. Safe.

In the short time it took her to pack for the night, the door opened twice more, and the second time was slammed hard enough to make Tsomo yelp. Just as she finished, she whirled on the door and made a run for the prankster, only to screech to a halt in front of Nuying. She blinked at Tsomo in surprise.

“S-sorry! Some little kid has been playing with the door, I thought you were them.”

“Kids.” Nuying said with a shake of her head. “Anyway, I heard a rumor about you today.”

Tsomo’s heart skipped a beat. “A rumor?”

Nuying smiled. “That it’s your birthday today.”

Tsomo laughed in relief. “Oh, right, it is, haha.” Nuying held out her hand. In it was a small stone, a dark green one with a band of bright pink. Tsomo took it carefully.

“Happy birthday,” Nuying said with a bright smile. “That’s watermelon tourmaline, it’s a lovely stone and I thought you might like it.”

“Oh, that’s cool, thank you,” Tsomo bowed her head, which Nuying returned. Tsomo didn’t quite believe in crystals and chakras and all that, but it was a pretty stone at least. “How do I use it?” She asked, humoring her.

“Simply meditate with it in your hand.” Nuying said. “Nothing more.”

Right. Okay. She tucked the stone in her shorts pocket.

“Thank you again. Oh, I’m headed out to visit my family. I’ll be back tomorrow morning or so.”

Nuying waved as Tsomo left. Maybe her new roommate wasn’t so bad. She should at least give Nuying a chance. She wasn’t Momoko.

Tsomo walked the few blocks to the subway in relative peace and took a seat in a sparsely populated car, setting her backpack on her lap. As she rolled the stone in her hand, she realized something.

Her dorm room had been locked. How had the kid managed to open it. She tried to shake it off, tried to convince herself it was a mechanical failure that she’d bring to Ms. Cheong’s attention, but she felt cold and anxious the whole ride home.

Her parents were overjoyed to see her, as if it had been 4 years and not 4 days. Her younger siblings darted around her singing “Happy Birthday” and songs from kids shows she didn’t know. She breathed in the scent of home, and of her favorite soup dumplings cooking. She took a moment to run her bag upstairs to her bedroom, then joined her mother and father in the kitchen. They were baking a chocolate cake. Or well, her father was. Her mother was standing nearby “helping”.

Tsomo wasn’t sure how to bring up the whole “Avatar” thing. Her parents asked her typical first week of school questions: how were her teachers? How was the new roommate? Did she like her classes? Finally an opportunity presented itself when her father asked her how her day was. Tsomo had to laugh.

“Oh y’know, met with the queen and her sage, talked about how I’m the Avatar and you guys have known since I was like, 4.” Her parents froze. “So were you guys gonna tell me?”

Her father sighed, and her mother spoke up.

“We didn’t have a choice. It’s tradition to raise the Avatar without them knowing so they can at least have a normal childhood.”

Tsomo nodded. It made sense, but that didn’t make it hurt less.

“I wish we could have.” Her father said. “It was so hard, letting you think that you were a non-bender when you couldn’t bend.”

“Wait, why couldn’t I bend?”

“We don’t know,” her mother said earnestly. They said you may manifest your bending early, and to be ready for that, but you never did.

“I’m sure once you start training with your new masters, it will come.” Her father said, then gave an over exaggerated sigh. “Man, I’m so glad we can talk about this now. Honey, you’re the Avatar!”

“We always knew you were special, even before the sage came.” The two of them embraced her for a long moment, and she forgot about everything scary and confusing she’d gone through. For the next few hours, she played with the twins, ate her favorite meal with her family, and managed to blow out sixteen candles on her cake. She joked about that counting as airbending. The twins made her a clumsy red clay pot with a lid that didn’t quite fit to put coins and things in, as they put it. She’d treasure it always, she told them. Her parents gave her a bit of spending money and a recipe book from a famous baker.

As the night was winding down, and she sat playing on her phone while the twins watched a movie, someone knocked at the door. Tsomo, being a little bored by the movie (something about singing meerpenguins?) hopped up to answer it.

It was Daizo. He stood on her doorstep beaming with both hands behind his back. She had a sneaking suspicion as to what he had.

“Sorry, we don’t want any.” Tsomo said, starting to close the door. Daizo laughed and easily pushed it open.

“I’m pretty sure you do,” he said pulling a small package out from behind his back. She opened it immediately. Inside was an adorable winged lemur plush toy. She laughed. This was their thing, ever since they met at her own seventh birthday party. Daizo had been forced to go by his father. He was new to the city and fresh from escaping Ba Sing Se and did _not_ want to be there, but his father was a budding politician, alongside her mother, and they were the same age so a friendship was thrust upon them. He’d gotten her a plush cat spider. He later admitted that he’d picked it out hoping she’d hate it, but she’d loved it. From that day on, Tsomo had slowly broken Daizo down until they were as close as two people could be. And he got her a plush toy every year for her birthday since. Last year was a tigerdillo, and the year before that a cow hippo.

“Who could possibly have seen that coming!?” Tsomo gasped in mock surprise.

“Shut up,” Daizo laughed. “Happy birthday Dumb-o. I wish I could stay, but I have an early practice with Coach Feng. But I’ll come pick you up and we can get lunch at Dumpling Barrage.”

“Dumplings two days in a row? I am truly blessed.”

He waved and wished her good night. She wished she could ask him to stay a little longer, but something made her bite her tongue.

That night, she woke from terrible nightmares, the memory of which was gone in an instant, but the fear remained. She sat in the dark for a long while, before she made out the shapes of something in her room. She squinted at the shape, then, heart pounding, realized it was a pair of children. Furious that Mezi and Zuji had snuck in, she rolled to the side and turned on her lamp.

The shapes were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

“To know is to have power.”

~ Quote from Scholar and Philosopher Wan Shi Tong

They followed her everywhere. A week after her first encounter with them, she’d seen them enough times to give the small specters names. The little girl with twin tails framing her face and a ponytail Tsomo called Emi, and the boy wearing a scarf around his head with dark curls peeking out was Natsu. They never spoke, though they did cry, laugh, and scream in voices ranging from normal small child to something like the nightmarish cry of an owl horse. Sometimes they were very visible, liked faded out children, other times they looked like the dark shapes she’d seen that first night. Other times, she couldn’t see them but she knew the were there. Rattling her desk drawer, scratching her legs during class, banging on the door at all hours of the night. If the nightmares weren’t keeping her up, the ghost children certainly did the trick.

By that Friday, Tsomo was desperate. Nuying had to shake her awake at because she was crying out for her mother to save her. She never remembered the specifics of the nightmares, just the feelings of deep down terror and helplessness. She went to the library, but the only books on ghosts were novels. The internet yielded unhelpful results. She couldn’t burn sage in her dorm, the circle of salt gathered from packets at the dining hall didn’t work at all, and firmly telling them to leave her alone only seemed to agitate them more.

She sat in her last class of the week, bouncing her leg and begging the minutes to pass faster. It didn’t help that the subject matter was utterly boring: mathematics.

Tsomo felt a tug on the hem of her uniform jacket. Taking a deep breath to remain calm, she turned her head down to see Emi standing there in her washed out form.

“Not now,” Tsomo whispered quietly but her seat neighbor Ryozin, who was odd to see in class at all, turned and stared at her. She was about to apologize, when his eyes glanced down to Emi, then back up at her.

He could see her.

“Ignoring it won’t help,” he replied back softly.

Tsomo opened her mouth to ask him something, anything that would help, but he put a finger to his lips and turned his attention back to math.

Tsomo muttered to herself about fake magic and selfish prince’s all the way to the White Lotus Inn, no doubt attracting some frankly warranted stares. Her hair was a mess, the bags under her eyes refused to be covered by concealer, her whole body ached, and the lack of rest had caused her performance in the classroom and gym to noticeably plummet. Teachers were concerned and Daizo was worried sick after just a few days. She had to avoid him for fear of spilling everything out in a moment of weakness.

After what seemed like ages, Tsomo finally trudged through the doors of the Inn, nearly collapsing in relief as she did. Katara, who happened to be out in the lobby, hurried to her side and helped her over to a chair.

“What on earth happened to you?” Katara asked. Tsomo could only laugh.

“Th-they won’t leave me alone,” Tsomo said, her voice shaking. She felt tears roll down her cheeks and lowered her head in shame. “I don’t know what to d-do.”

“Who won’t?”

Emi and Natsu appeared as if on cue rattling the coffee table and knocking the books off of them.

“Them!” Tsomo shouted. “No one can see them except me and the stupid prince for some reason and they won’t leave me alone or tell me what they want!”

Katara was quiet for a moment, observing the table but clearly also not seeing the two translucent terrors.

“Let’s go outside.” Katara took her by the arm and lead her towards the back of the lobby and through sliding doors. Outside was a beautiful garden, full of flowers, a plot for vegetables, and fruit bearing trees. Beyond that, the forest lay, deep green and untamed. Beneath one of the trees before the forest was a small grave with a cup of tea as offering. Katara lead her to the grave and gestured for her to sit in the grass. It was quiet, hardly even a breeze to stir the branches. Tsomo sat in a loose lotus position. Katara leaned against the try, gazing softly at the grave.

“I met General Iroh as a teenager,” Katara said. “My own mother was taken by the Fire Nation, and later killed, so I was slow to trust him and Lee.” She swallowed. “But he was… a good man. Wise beyond words.” She sighed and tried to subtly wipe a tear away, then reached down and took the cup of tea. “I’ve been meaning to replace this. Sit, relax, meditate. It’s always quiet and peaceful here. Maybe you’ll figure something out.” With that she left Tsomo to her own devices.

Tsomo sat for a while, unsure of what to do. She’d never meditated before. She was supposed to clear her mind right? Focus on nothing? Easier said than done. Her focus kept shifting back to the garden, out to the forest, even to her homework and upcoming training. And of course, she was on her guard, waiting for Emi and Natsu. She closed her eyes for a while, thinking that might help. After a minute or so of feeling nothing, she opened her eyes then nearly jumped out of her skin. An older man sat before her, dressed in a comfortable tunic, meditating. He had the same faded out quality as Emi and Natsu.

“Iroh,” Tsomo said softly.

He smiled at her. “It’s good to meet you, Avatar Tsomo.”

“You know who I am?”

“Of course, the Spirit World has been turned upside down ever since you were born. The Non-Bender Avatar.”

Tsomo felt a pang. Even though she’d been a non-bender her whole life, being called a non-bender Avatar seemed like an insult. “So I’m not an airbender?”

“Not yet at least,” Iroh said. “You’ve only known about being the Avatar for a week!”

“That’s… true I suppose.”

“Oh, seems we have visitors.” Iroh leaned slightly to look around her. She turned to find Emi and Natsu running towards her. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, but none came. When she opened her eyes again, Emi And Natsu had crawled into Iroh’s lap. They looked so innocent now, nothing at all like the terrors she’d come to know them as.

“Do you know them?” Tsomo asked. Iroh’s expression become somber as he nodded.

“I do,” he said softly.

“Who are they? And why won’t they leave me alone?”

“Ah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m afraid that I’m not the person to ask. If you meditate on it, you may find your answer from within.”

Tsomo sighed and ran her hands over her face. “I’m not… particularly good at meditating.”

“No? I find it quite rewarding! Would you like some tips?”

“Please.”

Iroh chuckled. Emi and Natsu climbed down from him and took a spot on either side of him, mimicking Tsomo’s lotus position.

“Most people think that you have to empty your mind and think of nothing, but this is far from true. It’s only natural to notice thoughts and distractions, but you should do only that: notice them. Imagine them as leaves, collecting on you as you meditate beside a stream.”

Tsomo closed her eyes, picturing, as he instructed, herself in a forest by a stream.

“Notice the leaves around you, but do not fixate on them. Simply place the leaves on a stream, and let them pass.” Tsomo nodded. “Breathe deeply, exhale longer than you inhale. And most importantly, keep your mind open.”

Tsomo let out a long exhale. “Alright, but I’m not sure how that’s-” as she opened her eyes, she found herself alone, Iroh and the ghost kids gone. With nothing else to go on, Tsomo rolled her aching shoulders and settled in to try again.

She went back to that stream in the forest. Distractions and stray thoughts were plentiful. Birds chirping, (should she tell Daizo about being the Avatar?), bugs buzzing in her ear, (was she really going to be able to bend all four elements some day?), even the wind rustling her hair. She noted them, and, as best she could, let them pass, floating peacefully down the stream. It took several minutes, but finally, the bald Air Nomad she’d seen a week before sat across the stream.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Aang,” he said simply.

“I’m Tsomo,” she said. “Can you help me?”

He shrugged. “I can try.”

“These children, they keep following me. I think they want something from me, but I can’t figure it out.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out.” Aang said, a look of sadness on his face. “They don’t want to hurt you, but they need you to know who they are.”

“Well, then, who are they?” The children slowly appeared by Aang’s sides.

“They’re you.”

It hit Tsomo like a ton of bricks. They were former Avatars! Of course!

“What do they want?”

Aang paused, furrowing his brows and turning his head slightly away.

“They want… to warn you,” his voice was hundreds of voices. His eyes and tattoos glowed white. The kids eyes were glowing too. Tsomo’s heart raced as she tried to ask the question she no longer wanted an answer for.

“What… What are they trying to warn me against?”

Aang’s hands flew to grasp his temple and tears streamed down his cheeks. “I never wanted _any of this!_ ” A blast of white overtook the area, and she was alone in that space for a few moments. Finally, Emi appeared before her.

“My name is Korra, I was the Avatar after Aang and I was so ready to be the Avatar too!” As she spoke, the white space morphed to show what she imagined must have been Korra’s home. A living Korra, showing off her ability to bend earth, water, and fire to her parents. “I was gonna be the best Avatar ever!” The Korra before her pumped her tiny fist. “Then, some people came. My mommy and daddy yelled a lot.” The scene changed, and Tsomo recognized at once the visage of the late king Sozin and a man wearing the same robes as the Fire Sage. Korra’s mother was a wreck, herhair disheveled and tears streaming down her face, holding on to her child for dear life. Her father was in King Sozin’s face, shouting. There was no sound, none at all as the guards rushed her father, taking him to the ground. King Sozin approached her mother, who shook her head and held Korra tighter. Flames appeared in King Sozin’s hands.

Tsomo jumped to her feet in that white space, shouting for him to stop.

But he didn’t. The scene became engulfed in flames, and then mercifully disappeared. The ghostly form of Korra was gone, replaced by Natsu. Tsomo fell to her knees, tears trickling down her cheeks as she realized she was about to see something terribly similar.

“My name is Hao. I was supposed to be the Avatar after Korra.” The scene showed Hao, still alive, living in a sandbender tribe. Hao returned to his home to find his mother cooking, and grandparents nearby, his grandmother sewing and his grandfather reading. “But then, people in red surrounded our home. They wouldn’t let anyone leave.” A blockade. The empire surrounded the small village, refusing to let hunting parties leave or return home, Hao’s father among them. “It lasted a long time. We ran out of food. My mom tried to run away with me.” She watched helplessly as Hao’s mother, saying tearful goodbye’s to her parents, attempted an escape.

They didn’t make it far.

Tsomo wanted to close her eyes as the archer took aim, but she forced herself, through tear filled eyes, to watched as the arrow struck her between the shoulders. Somehow, they kept running, but were not pursued. His mother succumbed to her wounds that night and Hao, alone, died in the heat of the desert the next day.

“Why?” Tsomo sobbed. There had to have been another way. A peaceful way. A way that didn’t involve murdering children and their families.

“This is who they are.” Aang was before her now. “They set disease on my people, they killed anyone and everyone who didn’t bend to them, then told the whole world those things were lies.”

White hot fury rose up in Tsomo. She couldn’t let them get away with this. Not any of them, not a single one. She’d end the Phoenix Empire if it was the last thing she ever did.

She’d burn them all.

“Tsomo!!”

Suddenly, she wasn’t in the white space any more, but back in the garden. Katara held her roughly by the shoulders. Her senses returned all at once. Koda was there, using his bending to put out… fires. Fires that she must have started. Shame burned hot in her face as more tears fell. Katara embraced her at once, holding her tightly.

Just like the mothers she’d seen.

Tsomo had been given some space to cool down from her meeting with her past lives, but once she did, she sprung into action, relaying what she’d seen to Lee and all the rest of them.

“We have to do something,” Tsomo said. “We have to tell people, or fight back, or-”

“Easy,” Lee said. “We’re doing everything we can already.”

“As much as I’d love to sic the Avatar on Azula, you haven’t even bended outside of the Avatar state.” Zhen said.

The others nodded in agreement. Tsomo sighed, frustrated with herself both for firebending in the garden and being unable to bend. A thought occurred to her then.

“You guys, you’re the Spirits, aren’t you?”

Lee could only grin.

“We are, and now that you’re on our side, we can begin our counterattack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and motivate me a lot! Artwork of Tsomo is complete and a link is on my profile. Daizo is currently in the works, then it will be Koda, then Nuying, and finally Ryozin. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
